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Memorial’s website blocked in Russia

In Russia, at the request of the Prosecutor General’s Office, the website of the human rights center “Memorial” was blocked. This follows from the data of the Roskomnadzor service.

In mid-April, Roskomnadzor, by decision of the Prosecutor General’s Office, blocked the websites of Human Rights Watch, Gazeta.ua, Hromadske Radio, the Ukrainian publication Segodnya, and 20 other resources in Russia.

According to Roskomsvoboda, since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, Roskomnadzor has already blocked more than 2,300 resources in Russia. Among them are Present Time, Radio Liberty, Voice of America, Meduza, Deutsche Welle, Bild, Belsat and others.

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On December 28, 2021, the Supreme Court of Russia decided to liquidate the International Memorial, which was included in the register of “foreign agents”. The Prosecutor General’s Office of Russia filed a lawsuit. The formal reason is several administrative protocols drawn up about a year ago for alleged violations of the law on NCOs-“foreign agents” committed by the organization.

The next day, the Moscow City Court made the same decision against the human rights center “Memorial”. This is one of the oldest organizations that studies repressions in the USSR and persecution in Russia; it was established back in 1989 with the participation of Andrei Sakharov.
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The US and the EU condemned the liquidation of the “International Memorial” in Russia. The head of the European Union’s foreign service, Josep Borrell, expressed regret over the decision to liquidate Memorial, which “plays an important role in preserving the memory of political repressions and violations of human rights.”

US State Department spokesman Ned Price said Memorial’s liquidation reflects “an era of rapidly shrinking space for independent civil society, the media and pro-democracy activists in Russia.” He called on the Russian authorities to stop the persecution of human rights activists.

Memorial International intends to appeal the court’s decision and find legal ways to continue its work.

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